Welcome to the British History Podcast. My name is Jamie and this is episode 277.

King Atholstand. Say yes to the dress.

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And thank you very much to Laura Palmer. That's true by the way. Zara and Gareth for signing up

already. And Laura, I thought you were dead. Anyway, if you'd like to join Laura in her fight

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you can sign up for membership at the British History Podcast dot com for about the price of a

lot tape per month. It's important to hit the ground running when you start a new job.

Especially if it's one that carries a lot of responsibility. When you're new, people are

often trying to work out who you are and how you're going to fit into the system. And the best

way to put people at ease is to work diligently to get up to speed as quick as possible.

And most of us have seen what happens when someone doesn't do that and they just come into the job

in a casual laid back manner and kind of kick their feet up. It doesn't go well.

So consequently, for most of us, when we take on a new job, it comes with a lot of pressure

in those first few weeks because we really want to make an impression.

And that's just a normal job. You can imagine the sort of social pressure a monarch must have

been under in the Anglo-Saxon system. Especially if his legitimacy was questioned, he was raised

in a foreign land at a time when xenophobia was a cultural cornerstone. And he was so controversial

that some of his own nobles tried to blind him when he was at the Capitol. I mean, Atholstan

was raised in Mercia. He had nasty rumors spread about him. And he came to the throne under a cloud

...